Dr. Nomi Prins, economist and author of the new book “Permanent Distortion: How The Financial Markets Abandoned The Real Economy Forever,” joins Julia on episode 28.

Dr. Prins is an international economist, investigative journalist, geopolitical financial expert, and outspoken advocate for economic reform. She was a member of Senator Bernie Sanders’ panel of top economic experts advising on Fed reform.

Dr. Prins’ new book exposes the ever-growing divide between the financial markets and the real economy and the unprecedented crises it has caused. This conversation explores how we got to a permanent distortion and why the Fed and its policies are at the epicenter. 

0:00 Intro

0:43 Goldman Sachs MD to investigative journalist

3:05 What is the Permanent Distortion

5:00 The Fed is at the epicenter

8:55 The Fed is pretending to be an inflation hero

13:02 One big convenient lie

14:55 Relationship between the Fed and Wall Street

18:00 Will the Fed ever be reformed?

21:06 Unelected officials control the money

22:33 Credibility of the Fed

24:08 From a great distortion to a permanent distortion

27:44 Inflation likely to remain higher than Fed’s 2% target

32:02 Fed could’ve mitigated the home/rent part of inflation

35:11 What would Dr. Prins ask Fed Chair Jerome Powell?

36:40 Dr. Prins' speeches before central bankers

40:10 Why central banks globally act in lockstep

41:49 Meme stock mania a symptom of Fed policies

44:20 The evolution of Bitcoin

47:33 Solutions to address the permanent distortion

50:40 5 economic sectors emerging

52:20 What happens if nothing changes?

54:00 Final thoughts